Tuesday, January 29, 2008

On December 30th; Daddy, Emily, and I traversed the eastern seaboard terrain in a long journey to Baltimore, MD. Our trek, however, took a detour to VA first to stay the night with a host family before trekking onward and upward. :) Above (or is it below?) are the pictures of our time at one of our host family's favorite eateries...The Silver Diner.Our driver, doing what he does best! The Silver Diner...obviously! ;) Daddy in front of the eatery. Making a song selection. In the right side of the picture, we see Daddy's hand gesticulating about how these musical contraptions used to be the rage in his day. Daddy and Eric. We stayed with Eric and his brother's family the night past. The arrangements were lovely and we are very grateful! Look at 'em muscles!!!

After parting ways at breakfast time, we headed to D.C. for some capitol sightseeing! What a lovely time was had. Here are pics from our lovely jaunt.

On our way to the District of Columbia Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial Smithsonian Institute of...Something (?) Neat... The mall...it looks like the color of the road is split just down the middle

Emily and I Another view of the Smithsonian. Daddy wonders if they are rewriting American History during the renovation.Hmm, they're admitting that they don't even understand how evolution could have started on it's own in the first place. Interesting. Daddy with some iron man...Harry Winston, methinks. The Hope Diamond, 45.2 karats of shiny...rock. Daddy and Emily with a Giraffe skeleton. We took this picture for Olivia who loves Giraffes.Silhouette

Later in D.C. we met up with the Blizzard family and Hailee Mann. Clockwise from the top: Peter, Sharon, Hailee, Emily, me, Matthew, Miss Susan, and Anna :) Leisurely sauntering down a gravel path Sunset in our Nation's Capitol

And...another view of the Smithsonian. I couldn't help it!!! The building is so magnificent, 'twould be a shame not to take several pictures of it! One last view of the Capitol building.Bye D.C.!!!!

Here we are at church!!!!!!!!!!! An inside view of Pilgrim Bible Presbyterian Church. 'Twas lovely!There was lots of Cheese-ing goin' on!

Sharon pontificating about some picture or another. :) Here is Dad's first attempt at taking a picture with the camera above his head. It's great except he kinda' missed our heads. :D There we go! L-R: me, Danielle, Heidi, Katrina, Madelin, Meghan, Emily, Anna and Miss Susan Hello Hailee! How are you this fine evenin'?Emily and Sharon smile for a pic, taken with my pirated camera.

Boo! Smile Sharon!! :D

The following pictures are of New Year's Eve at the Henderson home. We had us a blast, we did! And so we wait for 2008... Our little group of Henderson home stayer-inners. We were: Emily, me, Rachel, Christy, and Madelin. To pass the time, we took some random pictures. This one shows the diversity of pajama pant fabrics. Music notes, love-struck Eskimos, peppermint candy, and floral prints are all the rage I see.

We welcomed the new year by banging on pots with spoons. Bang bang, klink, bonga, klang, ding dong, rat-a-tat-tat, smash, klunk...accompanied by lots of shouting! :D

Our merry band. All are present, except for Rachel. She didn't come out on account of not wanting to dirty her socks. Tsk tsk! ;) Madelin, Mrs. Henderson, and Christy huddle to generate some relative warmth while watching the soda bottle bombs explode. That was really neat to witness! Banging on pots and pans to celebrate New Years. Hmm...what a phenomena, I'd never heard of such a thing in my life. Everyone else seems to know about it though...sigh...where have I been these 18 years past?!?! :D Mrs. Henderson and Annie after the early morning festivities. Happy New Year!!!!! Yeah...Happy New Year. I'm going to bed!

Goodnight Emily. You've been a real trooper!

The next day, Pastor Burd (of our host church), took us to see a centuries-old landmark. This stone was most likely erected in the time of General Washington (afore he turned President). On this stone is etched the "Cursed be he who removes his brother's ladmark..." scripture passage. Daddy attempting to decipher the weather-worn words of wisdom. My glove bedeked hand upon the stone of old.

Anna, one of the last of our party to touch it. A view of the church's parking lot...fascinating! Mr. Nathan waitin' in line for the viddles. Mmm, jello puddin' Danielle and MEL (Meghan Elizabeth Landry ;)

Miss Heidi Martin and my Emmy! Here, we find a musician of the humblest means, trying to carve out an honest living in this cruel world. The bittersweet melodies waft through the air. Astounded by his melodramatic playing and the beauty of his compositions, lookers on are compelled to support the poor man in his gifting. Change, bills, anything is strewn at his side...a small token of their thanks for his lowly gift. He is ecstatic...blessed! At first, the man humbly attempts to decline the generosity. His plea: that his music gives him joy, and that is payment enough. BUT...After much encouragement and praise, he reluctantly accepts the donations.**In the pictures above, Pastor Len was just practicing on the auto harp. A group of us thought it would be fun to give money as a joke. It seems he found the prank rather hilarious. We had many a good laugh from this little escapade! :D**

Cousins (Katie and Anna) smile whilst Nathan leaves his mark in the snapshot. I can't decide whether he is shouting or just making a face. Lady Emily gracefully descends the steps to the ever aromatic dinner hall. Mr. Blizzard and his marvelous daughter. We very recently noticed the lights above his head...believe me...that was not intentional. :) I seem to have a knack for these unintentional silly pictures. : / I was trying to get Danielle to turn around and smile with me for the camera. However, she is one of those "camera elusive" people and simply would not turn about...even under extreme duress. :D Boys will be boysMusic Makin' My Knight.

The night before we traveled to Philadelphia, Emily tried on various layers she planned to wear on the 'morrow. (I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!! 'Tis hilarious!) Doesn't she look well insulated?